This Friday, November 1, the traditional remembrance ceremony for returnees was held at the Saint-Lazare cemetery in memory of the pieds noirs and harkis who died in Algeria.
Memory and emotion, this Friday, November 1 at the stele of the returnees of the Saint-Lazare cemetery, in Montpellier, where we commemorated the events of November 1, 1954, this “Red All Saints’ Day”, during which the National Liberation Front (FLN ) committed a series of attacks in Algeria. Events considered to be the start of the war which would last eight years.
Harkis, Algerianist Circle
In the presence of numerous elected officials (City, Department, Region, parliamentarians) and families, Abdelkader Chabaïki, president of Ajir 34 (association justice information and reparation for harkis) expressed a “Thinking of all our victims and thousands of missing” before giving the floor to the representative of the Algerian Circle.
“Nearly four generations of compatriots have their history in Algeria”recalled for his part Mayor Michaël Delafosse. “The tragedy of the pieds noirs inhabits the memory of Montpellier. This stele reminds us that many Montpellier residents have left the memory of their ancestors in Algeria.” The opportunity to recall a commitment of the municipality: “Along with other cities, we are working to preserve graves in Algeria.”
The mayor also spoke about the fate of the harkis. And in particular, at a time when we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Lunaret zoo, their contribution to the development of the zoological park. “Montpellier’s roots also come from the other side of the Mediterranean. We must embrace this memory.”
